Ahmad 
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization condemned the increase in attacks on medical facilities in Sudan, as battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces have continued for more than a year.
The organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean countries, Hanan Balkhi, announced in a video press conference from Cairo that the organization has verified that 82 attacks have occurred on health care facilities in Sudan since the start of the war in April 2023, including 17 attacks during the last six weeks only.
Balkhi called on both Sudan and Chad to keep the “Adre” crossing between the two countries open to allow the entry of necessary relief materials and humanitarian aid needed by hundreds of thousands of Sudanese.
She stressed the importance of this crossing to save lives, especially after World Health Organization teams were able to bring aid through it to more than 200,000 people in North Darfur, which is one of the states most affected by the war.
In this regard, the representative of the World Health Organization in Sudan, Shibl Sahbani, stated that there are “7 aid trucks on their way to Darfur from Port Sudan,” and he added that from the beginning of the year until this month, the United Nations organization was able to distribute 510 tons of medicines and care supplies in Sudan.
Sahbani warned of the spread of hunger in areas of Sudan, noting that it is a greater cause of displacement than avoiding war and battles, as about 26 million people in Sudan face high levels of “acute food insecurity,” according to a United Nations report.
In a related context, the United Nations announced on Tuesday the continuation of talks in Switzerland between its envoy and two delegations representing both sides of the war this week, with a focus on humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians.
The talks began last week after the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General to Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, invited both sides of the war to hold talks in Geneva centered around humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians, where the talks are being held within the framework of a rapprochement format during which separate meetings are held with each delegation separately, in separate halls.
Sudan has been witnessing an ongoing war since April 2023 between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The war resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, and some sources estimate that the toll reaches “150,000,” according to statements by the American special envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello. About 10 million people have been displaced within the country or have taken refuge in neighboring countries since the outbreak of fighting, according to United Nations statistics.
The battles have greatly destroyed the country’s infrastructure, with more than three-quarters of health facilities out of service.
Report: More than 17,000 casualties in 6,000 battles in Sudan since fighting erupted in April 2023